


The Dried Wine

by alphaofallcats



Series: The Fire Escape (Punk Boys SNK AU) [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, M/M, Punk Eren Yeager, Punk Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), mentions of mugging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-21 09:23:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15554616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alphaofallcats/pseuds/alphaofallcats
Summary: Eren grabbed the Merlot and threw it with all the force of someone who had been playing ragtag baseball since they were eight.





	The Dried Wine

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Ereri Angst Weekend Day 1: Fade

The wallpaper of Levi's room is faded, cracked along the bottom edges, ripped and curling in some corners. The red spot where Eren had smashed a bottle of wine is nearly faded now too, a pale pink against the washed out rows of blue zinnia flowers.

But that memory is still fresh and painful and Levi wishes it would fade from his mind. The way Eren’s lips curled, the way his eyes were wild with rage, the way he grit his teeth to bite back his words, the way he failed to, the way his voice ripped from his throat in a vicious growl.

“You just let them?”

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“That’s the biggest load of bullshit. You’ve fought people for Izzy before, why won’t you protect yourself?”

“I was tired.”

Eren grabbed the Merlot and threw it with all the force of someone who had been playing ragtag baseball since they were eight. Then he slammed the window open, the glass rattling in the frame, and climbed onto the fire escape with heavy footsteps and left.

Kenny didn’t come up to see what the noise was. He hadn’t the day before either when Levi stumbled in through the broken window because he didn’t have his keys, queasy and bleeding and unsteady on his feet, so Levi isn't sure why he's surprised.

\----

It’s too late now to clean it. The wine seeped into the paper in a splotchy mess, looking like one of those inkblot tests shrinks use to psychoanalyze you. It kind of looks like a pair of lungs. Or a butterfly, depending on if he lies on his back, head hanging over the side of his bed to look at it upside down.

Honestly, he should attempt to fix it. Peel off the wallpaper and paint the whole room cranberry red so the stain isn’t noticeable. 

It’s too much work though. Everything is too much work. His whole body is heavy with exhaustion, endlessly tired but never finding rest, no matter how much time he spends curled up on his bed.

Eren always has energy though, so he can help Levi. Paint. Sleep. Cover the mark and count sheep.

But Eren’s probably off somewhere, doing something, in a world he’s never taken Levi to. Smoking outside some bar in Brooklyn, laughing at some joke one of his fight club buddies told. 

Levi can picture it perfectly. Eren’s head tilting back, eyes crinkling at the corners, bruised lips parting, tongue running across his crooked teeth, warm laughter bubbling in his throat.

Yes. That’s exactly what Eren is doing. Eren is there and Levi is here, staring at the mess on his wall, tired and irritated. Waiting for that knock on his window. Debating if he should ignore it when Eren eventually shows up.

Restlessly yearning to be huddled into Eren’s side, sharing a smoke and laughing at some joke outside some bar in Brooklyn.

\----

Apparently, Eren was outside some bar in Brooklyn.

“Here.” He tosses something at Levi, who barely catches it, too shocked that Eren had barged in through the door and not the window.

“How did you get up here?”

Eren smiles, toothy and gorgeous, and holds up a black paracord, two keys dangling from the loop. 

“Eren—”

“I don’t know how much cash they took so I took everything they had. Not much though, thirty between the two of them.”

Levi glares at the faded leather wallet in his lap. Eren’s right. There’s thirty dollars tucked inside, his state I.D. and metro card in their proper slots. The edge of an old, torn photo is peeking out from the inner fold.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Eren digs inside the pocket of his cargo pants and pulls out Levi’s pocket knife. He clicks the release, twirling it around his fingers, smirking as he says, “I got Jean to sharpen it for you.”

“Show off.” Levi rolls his eyes but there’s a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Give it back.”

“Only if you promise to _use_ it next time,” Eren says, snapping it shut before carefully handing it over. “I spent a week sporting a nasty bruise because you let someone mug you.”

Eren flops onto his bed with a put-upon sigh, snuggling close, resting his head on Levi’s chest. Levi takes Eren’s snapback off and cards his fingers through his hair. He’s not sure who it’s supposed to comfort, but Eren melts into the touch, body relaxing against his.

“You should laminate that photo, it’s all thin, might rip or something.” Levi swallows hard, hand stilling in the trail to took down to Eren’s shoulders. Eren looks up at him through his eyelashes, smile just as soft as his voice. “She was really beautiful.”

Levi can’t breathe. His chest is stiff, but at the same time, it feels like his ribs are concaving, squeezing so tight they might puncture his lungs. A possessive part of him wants to shove Eren off the bed, push him against that red spot on the wall and trap him there, choke him or threaten him with the switchblade, tell him off for even looking at the photo. 

That’s his fucking photo, damn it, he won’t even let himself look at it.

And yet, another part of him cracks, vulnerability slicing down his core, so sharp and cold and harsh, stopping him from acting out of the seething rage. The emptiness filling his chest isn’t exactly empty. It’s exploding with something he can’t lock down. A frigid ache. An icy pain that splinters into his bloodstream, rushing through him in a terrifying tidal wave. Nausea comes with it, and though he manages to swallow down the bile, his mouth still tastes sharp.

He squirms down, twisting so he can switch their positions, hide his face in Eren’s chest, nose rubbing against the faded RHCP logo on his shirt.

Eren smells like he always does, like Kenny, cigarette smoke and beer. But Levi knows it’s not the same. Eren is Marlboro and Stella, and Kenny is Camel and Dos Equis. Eren is comfort and Kenny is not.

The first inhale makes him shudder, but warmth tumbles after it, soothing the icy burns.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” he finally says.

“Yes, actually. Outer Space.”

“Outer Space.”

“Didn’t I tell you?” Eren asks. Levi can hear the smile in Eren’s voice, light with amusement. “NASA hired me for their Astronaut Program.”

“Must’ve liked your resume.”

“Oh, they _loved_ it.”

For a moment they’re quiet. Levi’s staring at the spot on the wall, and he can feel Eren staring at the top of his head. Until Eren shifts, shimming down into the bed, turning on his side and pulling the blanket up to his chest, face close enough that Levi can feel Eren’s breath fanning across his cheeks.

“Want to go to Outer Space with me?” Eren whispers. 

“Damn, I can’t, my spacesuit broke,” Levi whispers back.

Eren shuffles impossibly closer, hair tickling Levi’s forehead. 

“Minor details,” Eren grins. Levi can see his teeth, the way the bottom incisor tilts into the canine, and he can see the scar across the arch of Eren’s left eyebrow, and he can see tiny follicles of where Eren had shaved in the morning. “We can steal you another one.”

“Okay.”

“So you’ll go with me?”

“Right now?”

“Yeah. Right now.”

Levi nods, leans forward and kisses Eren, running his tongue along Eren’s crooked teeth, tasting the remnants of Eren’s last cigarette, feeling Eren’s chapped lips slot against his own.

Maybe in space he can forget about the Merlot stain, and some bar in Brooklyn, and his leather wallet, and the crumpled photo of his mom.

Maybe. 

If Eren takes him.

\----

It looks like some fucked up broken heart. The dried wine splits down the middle, jagged and twisted, so much that it doesn't look like a heart. 

Eren snores into his neck and Levi finally closes his eyes and sleeps.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to [rolling-wavves](http://rolling-wavves.tumblr.com) for helping me brainstorm the angst for this weekend (especially since angst isn't really your thing, you deserve lots of hugs for helping me and being a babe!)
> 
> And a huge thank you to [lankylevi](https://lankylevi.tumblr.com) for helping me beta this and get inside their heads. 
> 
> You're both babes who deserve lots of cake, balloons, and confetti!


End file.
